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Dear Sisters,

Diva Las Vegas!

By Brittany Rose, a.k.a. Beth





Dear Sisters,

It had been a long summer – Shakespeare and other projects, (almost no time for dressing) – and my wife and I decided to go on one last trip since we wouldn’t be able to travel and not worry about kids for, oh, say, 30 years. Cost, time, wishes all figured in, and we wound up spending a week in early August in Las Vegas!

I persuaded my spouse that Vegas would be a safe place to dress and she agreed to support it for the last full day of the trip, when we planned to go to one of Vegas’ drag shows. (My wife is never really comfortable when I dress in public, but she feels better if there’s an excuse for it.) My first choice was La Cage and Frank Marino, but they weren’t performing Tuesday nights, so we agreed on the Kenny Kerr show at the Debbie Reynolds Casino. We made reservations a couple of weeks in advance, planning to buy the tickets when we got there.

The whole trip was outstanding in spite of the heat – hitting a $255 jackpot at 3:30 a.m., feeling the baby kick for the first time (due in December), great food, the Star Trek Experience, visiting friends, etc. – but I couldn’t wait until Tuesday!

Diva Las Vegas

My plan was to go out casually in the afternoon, then dress to the nines for the evening. My goal was to experience the day as a true female – be accepted, be noticed, be attractive. For the afternoon I wore what I had worn to the Rockies game, minus the jacket of course. Wig, jeans, T-shirt, sneakers. We were staying at the Excalibur, near the bottom of the Strip, within easy walking distance of the Luxor, the MGM Grand, and New York, New York.

After dressing and approving my look in the mirror, I went down to the lobby, walked over to the Luxor, and shopped. I chatted with some of the storekeepers, and tried to be fairly inconspicuous. I had several pictures taken (none of which came out), including one at a large slot machine just as I was about to pull the lever. A woman took the picture; I pulled, and won $15! The most fun I had was at two of the Fantasy Foto places. You know, where they photograph your face, then put it into a picture of a celebrity, or someone with an incredible body, so that it looks like it’s you. To drum up business they’ll let you try it for free, so at both the Luxor and the Excalibur I let them put me in as a showgirl or a bathing beauty, and the pictures weren’t too bad. Finally I went back up to the room to get ready for the evening.

How well did I fit in? Let’s see… When I first came downstairs one young woman almost hurt herself trying to get to her boyfriend to point me out. I simply gave her my sweetest smile as I walked past. There were other questioning looks, some whispering children, and the woman who took my picture at the giant slot machine looked a little uncomfortable. On the other hand, all the sales persons, particularly at the Foto places, treated me as the woman I appeared to be. Did I pass? Don’t know. Was I accepted as a woman? Completely!

Puttin’ on the Glitz

Then it was back to the hotel room, change clothes, adjust the makeup for nighttime, help my wife dress up, and go to the Kenny Kerr show. I decided I would go all out, yet tastefully, with my gold and black outfit, stockings, and high-heeled boots. (Yes, that same old thing!) With hair and boots I am close to 7 feet tall, so I know I was going to get attention, regardless. Again, I was seeking that elusive true female experience.

Our first stop was Circus Circus for their highly rated Italian restaurant. We decided on just having appetizers, the service was excellent, the food delicious, and we were treated appropriately as two women out for the evening. Afterwards we walked through the casino, and everyone’s head turned. Were they looking at a tall woman or a man en femme? Probably some of each. My wife said that more than once after I walked past I got the full glance from boots to hair and back down. We caught a cab to the Debbie Reynolds casino, leaving plenty of time to settle in before the show.

We arrived at the Debbie Reynolds, paid the cab and walked into an empty casino. Nothing whatsoever was going on, and there were maybe five people in the building counting the bartender. We asked about the show and the bartender said that it had folded Saturday – three days earlier. Fortunately we hadn’t paid for our tickets! So there we were, literally all dressed up and no place to go. Most of the other shows in town had already started, so we weren’t sure what to do. After a trip to the ladies room, we decided to catch a cab back to the Excalibur.

Our cab driver suggested we try the show at the Luxor, which we agreed to, especially since it put us back close to where we were staying. Then he told us that the Debbie Reynolds Casino had been bought by the World Wrestling Federation! This led to a fun conversation with us explaining to him what it was like to be female wrestling fans.

When we got to the Luxor, we discovered that their show had already started, so we decided to look around at some of the other entertainment. When we walked to the Fantasy Foto booth, one of the girls recognized me from the afternoon and asked if I was still interested. When my wife saw that she could be I Dream of Jeannie, she wanted to try it out herself. I tried a new one of a female construction worker. I wasn’t absolutely thrilled, but it was good enough to keep. My wife had two to choose from and agonized over what she wanted versus what we could afford. While we tried to decide what to get, we had a lovely conversation with the girl behind the counter about husbands, relationships, and even whether or not a woman should get breast implants.

After we purchased our Fantasy Fotos (my wife got both of hers), we took some casual pictures at the casino (and these came out). Then we walked back to the Excalibur, to see the outdoor Wizard and Dragon show. By now it was 11:00 p.m., and it was still 80+ degrees! We waited in the crowd in the heat for about fifteen minutes to see a surprisingly lame 3-minute show. One of the only letdowns in the entire trip. Back up at the hotel room, my wife called it a night. She had done more walking than planned, and was pooped. I, however, was having too much fun to quit. So I shaved again, reapplied my makeup, and set out once more.

Studio 54, Where Are You?

This time I had a specific destination in mind. The MGM Grand has a nightclub called Studio 54, based on the original, with disco music and dancing. The club has an interesting cover charge policy. Men pay $10, but women get in free. I figured this would be a test of sorts, and one certainly worth trying. I walked over to the casino, walked up to the entrance to the club, and they stamped my hand and waved me inside, without any hesitation!

Once inside I wandered around and danced a bit. I was definitely overdressed, and, not surprisingly, got all kinds of looks, but nothing beyond that. After staying for about a half-hour I walked back to our hotel room and turned back into a pumpkin.

Be Careful What You Wish For!

How was it? Wonderful! Did I pass? Not always, certainly, but otherwise no problems. The bottom line is that I was accepted. The girl at the Fantasy Foto might have read me from a mile away, or not had any idea that I was anything other than what I appeared to be. I have no idea. The important point is that she and everyone else I dealt with treated me like the woman I was, and acceptance is, in some ways to me, better than passing.

Yes, but did I have that true female experience I wanted? Oh, sister did I! I wasn’t the object of desire or the stunning babe who stopped traffic nor did I pass perfectly. But at the end of the day it dawned on me just what a true female experience I’d had. I was sweating profusely under my breasts and on the back of my neck under my long hair. Because of the high heels, the balls of my feet felt like they would never straighten out, my calves ached and throbbed, and my tummy felt squished from the corset/girdle. I had had to touch up my makeup constantly because of the heat, and a trip to the ladies room took twenty minutes. And on top of that, I had been stared at, for whatever reason, as an object rather than as a person, all night. Needless to say my wife had absolutely no sympathy for my true female experience, and I can’t say I blame her.

That about sums it up. An exciting end to a wonderful trip. I hope you are having or will plan to reach for your dreams and opportunities as well. Until next time,

Fashionably yours,

Brittany Rose

BrittTV@aol.com

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